1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article of furniture which may be converted into the form of a crib, a youth bed, or an adult bed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As infants grow to be toddlers and continue to develop from children into adults, bedding requirements change. Typically, cribs are suitable for infants. Cribs generally are structured such that the mattress is elevated so as to not require the parent or the infant's attendant to bend over a substantial amount to cradle and lift the infant when removing the infant from the crib. More often than not, cribs are provided with a boundary disposed about the entire periphery of the mattress for the purpose of protecting and preventing the infant from rolling off of the mattress onto the floor. To further assist in the handling of the infant or the removal of the infant from a cradle, a portion of the railing is usually mobile. That is, a gate may be provided or a segment of the railing may be movable to offer greater access to the infant and the confines of the crib.
As the infant becomes a toddler, he or she eventually requires substantially more space. The crib is commonly replaced with a suitable bed and, more generally, with a youth bed configured specifically for the needs of a toddler. For example, unlike an infant, a toddler may be able to bed himself or herself. Although this may be true of toddlers, they may still require a security barrier to protect them from rolling off of the edge of the bed. Few youth bed configurations provide this security barrier feature. As the toddler matures on through his or her childhood, there will come a time when the he or she will no longer have need of a security barrier.
Ultimately, the child reaches adulthood and a greater amount of bedding space is desired. Again, as was the case with the crib, the youth bed will need to be replaced. The replacement of a bed is usually compounded with the replacement of an entire ensemble. This could prove to be a very expensive venture over a course of time. A single article of furniture which is configurable to form a crib, a youth bed, or an adult bed would virtually eliminate a scheduled replacement of furniture and, in effect, eliminate a periodic replacement of entire groups of furniture. There are convertible articles of furniture which employ this general concept, however, none can be configured to form either a crib, a youth bed, or an adult bed simply by rearranging existing elements, that is to say, without augmenting additional elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,193,272 issued Aug. 1, 1916 to Edward F. Laforest describes a combined bed and crib. The device described can be adjusted to different lengths, providing a crib for an infant and a bed which is adjustable to the size of a child as the child grows.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,223,955 issued Jun. 23, 1929 to Bernard Greenbaum discloses a bed which may be converted from a crib to a regular bed or a day bed. The conversion from one configuration to another is accomplished through the rearrangement or elimination of parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,822 issued Jul. 2, 1974 to Joseph L. Borreggine describes a combination cradle, crib, and youth bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,919 issued Dec. 7, 1982 to James R. Hull discloses a convertible child's bed which may be converted from a crib to a standard twin bed through the removal and rearrangement of parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,883 issued Jul. 2, 1985 to Loretta A. Necowitz teaches of a full size bed convertible to a crib. The full size bed is adaptable to receive railing about its periphery. With the railing disposed about the periphery of the bed, a crib is produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,427 issued Aug. 13, 1991 to Robert J. Golden discloses a crib which is convertible to a youth bed. The crib has removable sides and a vertically adjustable mattress support structure which permits the crib to be altered through various stages of the child's growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,846 issued Jan. 7, 1992 to Charles E. Wheeler, III et al. describes a variety of crib structures, one of which includes a bi-folding gate assembly. Any of the variety of cribs may be converted to form a variety of youth sized beds or adult sized beds. The conversion is accomplished through a particular arrangement of parts and more specifically, through the rearrangement, addition, or elimination of parts.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.